Cloud Interactions

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

About this image

The atmosphere of Mars is a dynamic system. Water-ice clouds, fog, and hazes can make imaging the surface from space difficult. Dust storms can grow from local disturbances to global sizes, through which imaging is impossible. Seasonal temperature changes are the usual drivers in cloud and dust storm development and growth. Eons of atmospheric dust storm activity has left its mark on the surface of Mars. Dust carried aloft by the wind has settled out on every available surface; sand dunes have been created and moved by centuries of wind; and the effect of continual sand-blasting has modified many regions of Mars, creating yardangs and other unusual surface forms.
This image was acquired during mid-spring near the North Pole. The linear water-ice clouds are now regional in extent and often interact with neighboring cloud systems, as seen in this image. The bottom of the image shows how the interaction can destroy the linear nature. While the surface is still visible through most of the clouds, there is evidence that dust is also starting to enter the atmosphere.